France survive scare to beat Japan in Davis Cup

French pair Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert came from behind to win a deciding doubles tie in a 2-1 victory over Japan at the Davis Cup finals.

The Australian Open champions beat Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-5 in a dramatic third set.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Uchiyama 6-2 6-1 in the opening singles match before world number 10 Gael Monfils lost 7-5 6-2 to Yoshihito Nishioka.

Last year's runners-up France take on Serbia on Thursday.

On a more positive note for Japan, leading singles player Kei Nishikori, who was ranked eighth in the world in October when he underwent surgery on his right elbow, posted a video of himself on social media holding a racquet "for the first time" since picking up the injury.

Elsewhere in Group E, the Netherlands - Great Britain's opponents on Wednesday - lost 2-1 to Kazakhstan after Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer were beaten 6-4 7-6 (7-2) in the deciding doubles match by Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin.

Haase, ranked 163rd in the world, had earlier come from behind to beat Bublik 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-5) in his singles match after Dutch compatriot Botic van de Zandschulp lost 6-2 6-2 to Kukushkin.

And in Group C, Argentina beat Chile 2-0 thanks to victories from Guido Pella and Diego Schwartzman in both singles matches.

Pella, ranked 25th in the world, beat Nicolas Jarry 6-4 6-3 in the opening match of the day on centre court before Schwartzman's 6-2 6-2 win over Cristian Garin.

"It's the end of the season but I think I played one of the best matches for sure of the year, maybe in my career," said Schwartzman. "I think Guido [Pella] helped me a lot to be more confident and I played unreal tennis."